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Gloucester Services

Located on the M5, between junction 11A and junction 12. The site is surrounded by the Cotswold area of outstanding natural beauty.

Objective:

To create a sustainable service station which has minimal impact on its surroundings and is sensitive to surrounding environment of the Cotswolds (AONB).

Actions:

As the site was flanked by the Cotswolds and Robins wood Hill, it was important to minimize the environmental impact and blend the building into the surrounding countryside.

To achieve this the buildings were designed so that they would not disturb the view, with a 4,000m2 green roof to blend the new service station into the surrounding landscape. This green roof was designed to encourage local flora and fauna to flourish. Excavated materials from construction were reused in landscaping. Extensive sustainable drainage was created, consisting of swales, bio-retention areas and filtration strips, which discharge the water into a pond and wetland area.

The unique partnership between a business, (Westmorland Limited) and a charity (Gloucestershire Gateway Trust) has enabled the creation of a number of community projects. One such project is the growing communities project, which works with unemployed individuals, helping them to gain new skills for future employment. From this, over 1000 trees have been planted on site, including an orchard.

Westmorland Ltd. also partnered with the Gloucester Gateway Trust and the Building with Nature Scheme to ensure the building benefits wildlife and increases biodiversity. The ponds are now home to breeding moorhens, newts and toads. The site also has bat boxes and raptor boxes for kestrels. The stone wall cladding of the buildings is home to many insects. The site is maintained by two in house landscape gardeners.

Potential impacts/benefits:

Potential impacts/ benefits

Challenges addressed

Enhancing sustainable urbanisation

Restoring ecosystems and their functions

Developing climate change mitigation

Developing climate change adaptation

Green space management and enhancing urban biodiversity

· Improve air quality

· Increase accessibility to green open space

· Increase biodiversity

· Carbon sequestration and storage

· Increase infiltration and water storage

Public health and well-being

· Social inclusion

· Increase well-being

· Increased cultural richness and biodiversity

Potential for economic opportunities and Green Jobs

· Creation of jobs relating to construction and maintenance of NBS

Water management

· Improve water quality

· Reduce run-off

NBS benefits

Increase infiltration / Water storage

Reduce run-off

Carbon sequestration and storage

Increase Biodiversity

Increased cultural richness and biodiversity

Creation of green jobs relating to construction & maintenance of NBS

Improve air quality

Improve water quality

Increase accessibility to green open spaces

Increase well-being

Social inclusion

Transferability of the result:

Useful for developments that are near wetlands, or near areas of outstanding natural beauty.

Lessons learned:

Businesses and charities can successfully work together, and new developments can give back to local communities and the environment.

If a site is designed and constructed well, from the environmental side as well as the well-being side, this can have a positive impact on attracting wildlife to the vicinity giving customers a pleasant, green environment to enjoy.

Financing:

Funded by Westmorland limited / Gloucestershire Gateway Trust. A percentage of profits from service station go towards charity community projects.